How Big Is My God?

Being a pastor has many elements to it, but one biblical responsibility is to equip others for the work of ministry. One way I do this is to allow others to teach from the pulpit in what I call Teaching Moments. These “Moments” provide a link to what I am teaching and may provide further context or perhaps have an element of devotion. However, beyond these “Moments” I try to provide a few opportunities each year for others to preach even when I am present. I know many churches do this, but most churches that are single-staff churches do not. Yet, by providing this opportunity, one other individual is away preaching at other churches as much or more as he is present at ours. Another individual has grown a great deal as well, and is stepping into new ventures because of it.

It seems to me that two periods during the year find me away from the pulpit for a period of weeks. One is just after Resurrection Sunday and the other is August.  During these times, I take some time to reflect on my own preaching, but also to learn from others. On August 6th, I was challenged in our service to consider How Big is God? That was the sermon title, and the answer is that “the answer is unknowable because God is immeasurable” (Rick Sons). But the concluding idea was not really about how big God is, but how big is my God. As I return to reflecting on sermons in this blog, I thought this was a good sermon to consider.

This blog is entitled fotonni which is a reversal of the phrase, “in not of.” If my God is truly big (to me), then I should be willing to live, in, not of, instead of chasing this world. The series I finished last month on my vision, mission, strategy, and steps, is designed to keep me focused in that direction, but I am far from perfect in following my own sequence. However, my God has “grown” a great deal over the past twelve months which is largely reflected in the most recent posts on what is next for me.

Three days from now will be one year since I departed for my first international mission trip. Being in my mid-forties, this is late for engaging in this way, and although I believe my reasons are sufficient for having not gone before, they are merely excuses. Our family has long supported missions financially, including specific missionary families, and children through various organizations. Additionally, having received theological instruction at a seminary for over a decade, I am certainly aware of the need for missions and have a grasp of the history, theory, and practice of missions as well. I have also been on more than a handful of mission trips within the United States, so I was not ignorant of missions – nor of what God can do to a person on such a trip.

But...having gone to Kenya, my world has truly enlarged over this past year. Some of that is geographically, but most of that enlarging relates to what (or is that where?) God is calling me to do (go). When I left for Kenya, I knew I would be going into the "bush" to talk about Jesus, but I knew my main responsibility was to train pastors. Those few days have now shaped a new organization as I have mentioned in my last couple of posts. My thoughts now are not just related to training pastors in Kenya (although I look very forward to continuing to doing that), but in locations all around the world. Who knew that one little trip could have such a tremendous impact? 

Ok, yes, God knew. And that is why I know my God is big. It is also why I say He is growing. Not in a literal sense, of course, but to me. I have a high view of God, and my recent series on vision, mission, strategy, and steps should indicate how I desire to live my life according to that high view. But as I continue to learn more about Him, and more about what He wants me to do, I must decide if I will follow my desires, or follow Him. Ultimately, I must choose to follow Him because only He knows where I am going.

How big is my God? Big, but not yet big enough. As John the baptizer said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3.30). As I make John’s mantra my own, I will truly begin to see how big my God really is!

Being Significant

Growing up, like many people, I wanted to be someone important. Frankly, at the time, I did not know what that truly meant, but being well-known, such as a star baseball player, would have satisfied this goal. Or at least I thought it would have.

But the reality is that being important is very subjective, and is usually very short-term. Consider your best friend in second grade. That person was extremely important to you. Your world revolved around that person and maybe a few others. For most of us, that person, or small band of friends is long since forgotten. We have lost touch with them, and lost track of them. Some reading this may even struggle to remember the names, and that is a part of the point. This example is not to belittle the importance of this person, but to show the relativity of the idea of importance itself. Over time, new friends and other people have become important for a season in your life, but then fade as well. For instance, your first boss was important. But, unless you still have the same boss, or are related to that first boss, your current boss is more important than your first one.

But significance is different. I suppose that is what I meant when I was young. I wanted to be someone of significance. Again, to me, at the time, that probably meant some young boy would emulate me while playing baseball and have my statistics memorized. But that isn't what significance is either. And while significance also tends to waver throughout our lives, significance can be long-lasting. Again, let me provide a brief example.

Your teachers in school were important. They provided feedback as to your learning. This feedback, largely in the form of a grade was important to allow you to participate in extracurricular activities, perhaps to get an academic scholarship, or just to stay out of trouble with someone who cared. But as important as the professional teacher was, someone in your life was significant because they taught you something that has stayed with you. Perhaps this was a teacher, but the individual(s) could have been a friend, a grandparent, an uncle or aunt or parent, etc. In some special way you remember this person for whatever may have been taught - either good or bad.

This past Sunday, my sermon* related the need for us to consider our purpose significant because our Lord was significant and He is the One who has called us to fulfill our purpose. Just like the people we remember from our past, others remember us because of the impact we have had upon them. But in an age of being so task-oriented, we can lose sight of what is important (an empty inbox, a tv show, etc.). And in reality, much of what we consider important is quite repetitive (showing up for work, taking out the trash, eating, etc). It isn't that these things aren't important because we must be paid, we don't want the house to stink, and we have to eat). But they are not significant.

The truth is if you do something important, it may not be significant. However, if you do something significant, it will always be important. The challenge before us then, is to find ways each day to do something significant for God. It isn't that we need to try harder, it is that we need to train our minds differently. Trying harder is usually all about us, but to be significant is to be about God and His work. 

I guess after all these years my hope to be important has faded. However, I do desire to be significant - significant for God and His kingdom. So, I guess for me to be significant, it isn't about me at all. Of course, I need to do my part, but if God has called me to it, then He should get the glory for it! As John the baptizer said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3.30).

That's my desire. What about you? Will you choose to be significant today?

* The blog post on the church's page is an edited transcript of the sermon. To listen to the actual sermon, click here.

A Matter of Trust

On Super Bowl Sunday, my sermon was on the the reasons we can trust Jesus. In the sermon*, I called Him a magnificent Savior. Now, you might say that is a matter of opinion, and I would agree to a point, but ultimately it is a matter of faith. We all place our faith in something. For instance, I am sitting in a chair as I type this. Without even thinking about it, I sat down in this chair fully expecting it to support my weight. I expect the back of the chair to provide support for my back and a small pillow to provide lumbar support so my back will not hurt later. In reality, I have no idea which company sold this chair, which manufacturer made this chair, and which employee (or employees) actually assembled the parts. But I have faith that they knew what they were doing, and for nearly five years the chair has supported me fine (and presumably the same is true for a pastor, two, or more before me).

My point is that we all exercise our faith everyday. When a light switch is flipped on, we expect the power to be there to light the room. When preparing to get dressed, we expect our clothes to be where we left them, and to still fit. And, of course, we expect gravity to remain in effect. When these type of expectations fail in movies or television shows, it creates suspense (a light doesn't come on), or humor (overnight growth in the movie "Big") or perhaps some other reaction. We take so many aspects of life for granted in ways that we don't require an active faith - rather our faith has become an assumption, or expectation.

And the same is true for faith in Jesus. Many discount Jesus because He has not been seen, is not known to be real, or any number of other reasons. But no one has seen gravity, only it's effect. Well, I contend that Jesus can be seen throughout every aspect of life, if we will only look. And it is more than simply knowing He could be present, it is expecting Him to be. And it is more than simply expecting Him to be present, it is having faith that He truly is. And it is more than having faith that He is present, it is exercising our faith because He is.

The exercise of one's faith is because we have trust in the object of our faith. For me, I wish that object was Jesus more often than it is sometimes. Yet, the true object of my true faith is Jesus. What I mean is that my devotion may waver, my faith may wander, but my intention is to have faith in, and to live by faith because of, Jesus. That requires trust. For me, the issue of the Bible's truth is resolved. The issue of Jesus' life is settled. And I find Him to be a magnificent Savior, not just because of what I have read in the Bible, not just because I have now seen many of the biblical sites firsthand, but because of the changes in my life that are only possible by having faith in Him.

For me, Jesus is worth trusting. For me, Jesus is worth following. I wish I was more faithful in following, in trusting, in living by my faith. But I know that Jesus has a plan for me, just as He does for each of us. The question is do we trust Him enough - as our magnificent Savior - to follow, to trust, and to devote our lives to Him?

So, in what, or in whom, do you place your faith? We all place it somewhere whether we think about it or not. But to become more than you are today, you need to consider where you are heading...what is worth seeking/following...what is worth your devotion. It is simply knowing what is important - to you. Truly, it is simply just a matter of in whom, or what, you will place your trust.

* The blog post on the church's page is an edited transcript of the sermon. To listen to the actual sermon, click here.

Following Jesus, Obstructing Jesus

The week before last (Jan 31), I preached a sermon introducing a series on our need to engage (Engage!). You can find a link to the blog here. You may also listen online here. The purpose of this series is two-fold. First, my hope is to remind our church of our vision, mission, strategy, and steps over the next several weeks using Matthew 16, and primarily verse 18 as our focal point. Second, this series will establish a strong foundation for the next series which will focus on the person of Jesus, and how He responded to the various opportunities that were brought to Him or that He specifically sought. Ultimately, the notion is that both series will encourage us to be ready to be used by God in both small, and in mighty ways, and yet, in all ways that He might receive the glory!

In the context (verses 13-20, especially), Jesus has asked His disciples how others are identifying Him. Then He asks His disciples for their thoughts. Peter responds (probably blurts out, knowing Peter!) that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God. What a great response. And Jesus pronounces a beatitude upon Peter (blessed are you), not for having made the response, but for having been given this truth by God the Father.

The problem is that in the verses to follow, Jesus speaking as God's anointed One (that is what Messiah, or Christ means) tells His followers that He must now go to Jerusalem to be mocked, beaten, and eventually die. Once again, it is Peter who speaks up claiming that Jesus is speaking nonsense. And frankly Peter was right from a human perspective. Looking back on the story, and knowing how it ends, we see Peter's response as out-of-line. But truthfully, should the "Son of the living God" have to die at the hands of His created beings? As that moment developed, Peter's statement was one of loyalty, of friendship, and of concern to the Man whom He had given up everything to follow. But, unknown to Peter, the purpose of Jesus life was far more than He could have imagined at that point.

So, what about you and me? Jesus and His disciples were in Caesarea Philippi, perhaps surrounding a campfire eating, when Jesus asks the questions of His disciples. "Who do others say I am?" "Who you you say I am?" Jesus expected a different answer the second time? Why? Because those that have been with Him more should know Him better. The others gave high praise to Jesus by comparing Him to notable prophets and John the baptizer. But the disciples should have known Jesus was even greater. And they did. And for even fuller measure, Peter's response puts Jesus in a higher position than the Caesar in a town named for a Caesar (it's currently known as Banias). It is important to note that Caesars were considered as gods, so after a Caesar died, his son was the "son of a dead god." But Jesus' Father was alive and working mightily through Jesus (which Peter, James, and John would see even more clearly in Matthew 17)!

So, Jesus expected their answer to His question to be different. And it was. Just like He expects that answer of His followers to be different today. And just like Peter, who still had his own purpose and desires in mind even after making such a grandiose statement about the person of Jesus, too often we put our purpose and desires above God's. And the same lips (Peter's) that properly acknowledged Jesus would quickly turn to confront Him for doing the will of God. And, as we know, those same lips would betray Jesus altogether while Jesus was later on trial. Again, we are often guilty of the same practice today.

But Jesus calls us to be in the world, not of it. That is why this blog is named fotonni. The word is the three words, in not of, spelled backwords. Fotonni symbolizes that we often live our lives backwards from how we should, and even how we wish we could. So, we need to turn our world around (or better yet, let God do it), so we can effectively live the life that He wants us to live.

For this post, living that life, is about not being an obstacle to what God wants to do. And the first question is, "What does He want to do?" Certainly that answer has unique considerations to all of us. However, many common points such as "Love one another" (John 13.35) and "Go, make disciples" (Matthew 28.19-20) are evident as well. The point is that each Christ-follower must find what He wants to do, what He wants us to do, an then do it. While the answer on what He is choosing to do at any given point may be difficult to discern, the truth is He knew His closest followers would give a better answer to His question because they had spent time with Him and, thus, knew Him. Likewise, as we spend more time with Jesus, we will get to know Him better - not just for the sake of knowing His title, but more importantly that we might know how we might best serve Him as an individual, as a member of a church, and as Kingdom-minded citizens, serving the one true King!

Sorry, I'm Just Me

I have been a sports fan all of my life. My favorite sport as a kid (and now) was baseball, but my friends and I played whatever team sport was in season (besides hockey - no ice in KC). We would emulate the stars of the day as we played the game. Yaz's batting stance, Dwight Clark's catch, Magic's passing, etc. It was fun as a kid to pretend to be as good as those stars were. Of course, if we could master their skills, maybe, just maybe, we would play in the pros. But no matter how much I played like someone else, unless my own skills were good enough I would never play professionally. And now in my mid-40's the haven't becomes a won't. But that is ok, because I am still learning to be me. More specifically, I am learning to become the me God wants me to be.

Why do I bring this up? If you have been on Facebook at all in the last 6 months, there seems to be a daily "What __________ are you (or are you most like)? What Disney character? What movie star? What cartoon character? What character in (name your tv series here)? What type of flower? What flavor of ice cream? What planet? What kind of dog? Even what disciple are you? Etc. (Ok, some of those may not exist yet, but they will soon enough.) Forgive me for saying it, but I am none of the above. I am sorry, but I am just me.

Really, these are harmless quizzes. But they also represent a reality that most people are unhappy with who they are and might choose another option if they could. (I am not suggesting all people that take these quizzes have this thought, but I bet a majority do). Consider the nature of selfies and photo-bombs...we want to be important enough to be in a picture, even if the picture is not about us. And how often do people try to get a picture with an established star (sports, movie, music, etc)? Why? To say they met someone. Ok, I am guilty, but for what gain? To prove that I am important enough to rub elbows with a certain person or group. Again, for some this is a hobby, but for others it is about feeling better about themselves. But, like the idea of quizzes, finding our identity in such a manner is not real...it is ill-conceived, and it is potentially damaging to our true psyche (in extreme circumstances).

Of course, none of us should be content with who we are. As a follower of Jesus, I know that I am in a fallen state. Sin has impacted me and I am not who I should be, nor can I be - apart from the grace of God. And yet, even with God's grace, I am inadequate to fulfill His plans for me because of recurring sin. My development (and yours) is a process. And a looonnnngggg process at that. And yet the quiz to know who I am is right before me. I can take it at any time. It is in the Bible. What Andy Braams am I? Am I the Andy Braams who loves others as he loves himself? Uh, no. Am I the Andy Braams who never has any other gods before the one true and living God? Uh, no. You get the idea.

But most won't take such a quiz. Why? We won't like the results (and they aren't made into cute online quizzes). Yet, each person must understand that even the quizzes taken to reveal their character/animal/plant/etc, means more limitations would be placed on them than might otherwise be considered. You want to be a dog - ok, your legs will be much shorter, you will not be feeding yourself, and it will be much more difficult to use a normal toilet. How about a flower? Hmmm....short life span, no movement, and watch out for lawnmowers. And lest we forget, our favorite tv/movie characters had flaws which often made us laugh at them (sometimes because we can't laugh at ourselves even though we relate too closely to the character). Again, you get the idea.

But, some of you may be thinking, "Oh, Andy, you are taking this too far." Ok, sure. But if we would focus more on what God wants us to be than on what Facebook says we might be like, I would venture to say our life would be better - and it would reflect what we truly want for our lives, rather than the fantasy that we know is not possible. ("Look what flower I am!" Really?)

So, should you quit taking these quizzes? No, what do I care if you take them or not? But as you do take them, consider the deeper reason you want to take the quiz. Do you really need (want) to know what Star Wars character you are (hint, it is very unlikely anyone reading this was a part of the actual cast - so you really aren't a character!)? How will knowing change your life?

But knowing and following God's plan for your life will have REAL implications. A real difference can truly be made not only in your life, but in the lives of others as well - as you relate to them. Ultimately, each of us must remember that we are not yet the person God wants us to be. And it doesn't take a Facebook quiz to figure that out.

Revival - Part 3

On Wednesday (Revival - Part 2), I began to question the lasting impact of last weekends revival. Personally, it is going strong. I sincerely asked that God would "Let it Start With Me" many times in the weeks leading to revival and He certainly got my attention during it, and He has continued to show Himself to me in some amazing ways throughout the week.

Yet, is this happening back home. I am removed from normalcy this week as I am teaching a college class about discipleship to a group of undergraduate students. They are challenging me in my faith as I challenge them to grow in theirs. But the reality is, being in this environment has helped keep the revival fires burning in me all week.

Is that true for those back in Fairfax? Many people were "touched" by the messages and/or the music last weekend. Many people were "moved" to do something because of what they had seen or heard. But the problem with Christianity today is that people are often "moved" but never actually move. They hear something good. They even have a good idea. But they don't act. James 1.22 says we are to "be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." True faith, true belief leads to action. In other words, we are to be "More Than Moved", which just happens to be another song sung by No Other Name.

We need to be more than moved. We need to determine what needs to be done and then choose not to simply wait for others, but to begin to do it because we are willing to "Let it Start With Me". To me, these two songs have a lot of overlap in the intent of their message. While the style of music and the lyrics may be different, the general message is the same - "We must live out our faith."

So, how's your revival going? If it is not "going" (a term for movement), maybe it is time to say, "OK, God, I am ready to do more than simply listen to you, I am ready to be moved into action. God, let it start with me!"